So I purchased a Lian Li PC-9F over a month ago because I had kept hearing that Lian Li is the leader in case build quality and design. After one month I am very unhappy with my case. There are almost no pro's, but many cons: Horrible drive mounting feature, sharp inner edges, scratches extremely easily, almost no cable management, no places for zip ties, not many accessories, overly bright LED's, very cheap and poorly thought out hard drive mounting, nothing is tool-less (except the 5.25" drive mounting, which is beyond garbage), cables are very thick and not very bendable, very cheap front ports (I feel like the USB's will break at any minute), and no room in the back to store cables (when I mean no room, there is NO ROOM. There is around 8mm to store cables, which is nothing).

For a $120 case I expected MUCH better, especially considering I have seen $40-50 cases that have exactly the same features and more, and they do not feel cheap at all (NZXT Gamma, Apollo, and cheaper CM cases to name a few).

Today I got to see a PC-90, which is a $200 full tower case. It had all the problems I listed above: Horrible cable management, scratches extremely easily, smudges on the aluminum, very sharp edges on the inside, poor USB's and front ports, and overall very cheap and flimsy. I have seen cases that are $100 that would absolutely destroy this case in terms of features, design, and stability.

So why exactly is there so much hype about these cases? I have had mine for a month and I am already starting to look for a new case. The cases are not worth the money at all. Is buying an aluminum case so important that you need to sacrifice a ton of features? I don't understand the positive ratings at all, these cases are horrible.

Build quality, materials used, they have even the slightlest detail taken care of, they look very classy and they're buyable.

Edit: Maybe you got a bad apple? Go to the store and check another one, because you could literally pass velvet around all the edges in my PC-A05 and it would come out as if it was new.Edited by Artikbot - 2/25/12 at 2:27am

Build quality, materials used, they have even the slightlest detail taken care of, they look very classy and they're buyable.

I wouldn't call leaving 50% of the edges on the inside of my case as sharp as a razor "having even the slightest detail taken care of". Build quality of my case and the case I saw today was not good. Flimsy and cheap. Materials used? I would expect they use the same aluminum that every other company uses. What exactly do they use? I don't know if aluminum has any isotopes or not. I'll agree with "looks classy" though, they look great... Until a few days after you buy it all the oils from your body get onto the case... That takes a very long time to clean and looks very ugly.

In my opinion Lian Li is the Apple for the PC cases. They're simple, ugly, made out of aluminum and way to expensive for what you get.

An excellent way to put it. The PC-9F would be worth it at $60, but at $120 it is a total rip off. The NZXT Gamma is $40 and it is a far better case. Even my old CM 690 II Adv which was $80 absolutely destroys this $120 case. With all my components inside the cases I can't even tell the weight difference when lifting them.

Many people like Lian Lis because they're a great modding template, sorta like Silverstone's cases. If you want to put a lot of money into modding your case into your vision of perfection, then you need something simple to work with as a base, and Lian Lis often fit the bill perfectly. At the end of the day though, I think a low-end Case Labs does the job better since you'll be spending quite a bit more time and almost as much money overall getting a Lian Li up to the same standards. You could also use Case Labs cases as a base for modding, but with all the room, accessories, and flexibility, why would you unless you're just doing something stylish?

Many people like Lian Lis because they're a great modding template, sorta like Silverstone's cases. If you want to put a lot of money into modding your case into your vision of perfection, then you need something simple to work with as a base, and Lian Lis often fit the bill perfectly. At the end of the day though, I think a low-end Case Labs does the job better since you'll be spending quite a bit more time and almost as much money overall getting a Lian Li up to the same standards. You could also use Case Labs cases as a base for modding, but with all the room, accessories, and flexibility, why would you unless you're just doing something stylish?

Is it honestly that hard to cut through steel though? Can't a dremel cut through steel? There are plenty of CM and Corsair cases that have a lot of modding potential and a TON of features that Lian Li's don't have for much cheaper. Plus with CM and Corsair the case isn't flimsy or cheap, they make very solid cases. Hell I'd rather buy a 650D, order a $25 side panel for it with no window and mod that instead of a Lian Li.

It isn't so much about how hard it is to cut through x material or what features it comes with, if you want to do a modding project from the ground up, ignoring the case's own features and doing yours instead, you need a basic template that doesn't include a bunch of crap you're just gonna throw out in the process. Again, Lian Li and Silverstone are great for this sort of thing if you don't care about the price, and if you do, just find one of those Rocketfish full towers, they're typically less than $100 and is just a Lian Li rebrand (I forget exactly which model, though).

It's about the concept for me. Sure the cases are a little bit lacking in certain areas, but I like to think of it like they just need a little more work. As a modder, I see this as being a good thing. Overall the design elements are more well thought through than some of the flashy cases out there. Gimmicky do-dads and too many features can make a case look or function oddly. After all, they are only slightly overpriced compared to others.